Public fiber network decision deserves a high profile

From issuing a permit to taking a 911 call to checking out a library book, governments run on their technology networks.

"No network, no city services," says Andrea Casselton, St. Paul's director of technology and communications.

The services governments deliver are important to us all. So, too, should be a Ramsey County plan to meet its growing digital communication needs by partnering to build its own network. The plan hasn't drawn much notice from the public. That should change.

Citizens, and their elected officials, should be asking detailed questions about infrastructure, connections and costs -- both to construct such a system and maintain it years into the future. Ultimately, it's a conversation that should sharpen our thinking about what government should do, and what it shouldn't.

It's a discussion we join as skeptics, with a long-held preference for private-sector solutions.

Other government forays into technology infrastructure have encountered problems.

Comcast, among those expressing concern about the plan, cites the experience of the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency, which was backed by 11 Salt Lake City-area cities. The Salt Lake Tribune reported earlier this month that the agency lost $18.8 million in fiscal 2011.

Ramsey County is moving forward with the project, and staff will return to the county board within the next few weeks with a plan that includes a construction contract and final budget projections, Johanna Berg, the county's chief information officer, told us.

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After a request-for-proposal process, the county selected Minnesota Fiber Exchange to design, build and operate the fiber network. "MFE's participation will create a new paradigm in the Ramsey County telecommunications marketplace with enhanced services and competition," the company's website says. "Ramsey County will be transformed from a fiber-starved environment to a place where fiber will be readily available and affordable for economic development."

Maximum construction costs are $13.7 million if Ramsey County is the sole government entity in the project. No figures yet are available for a managed service contract with MFE for ongoing operational services.

Construction of the 120-mile fiber network of "rings" and lateral spokes could begin in the spring. Fiber optic cables are made with glass fibers and carry more information much faster than metal cables.

It will be a "dual-conduit network," one publicly owned, with user agreements to serve such customers as the city of St. Paul and other public entities. On Aug. 1, the City Council approved a committee recommendation allowing the city to negotiate on joining the network.

The second conduit would be privately owned and would serve area businesses via other carriers.

It's a "fairly novel approach," said technology researcher Christopher Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which regards such networks as "essential infrastructure."

It's not the city and county, but the vendor, who will be offering services to others, he notes.

People should understand, Casselton said, that here and elsewhere, counties are building networks for government use. "It's not a new thing."

The network also is a "piece of infrastructure we will need for a very long time. Fiber is stable and allows the city to plan ahead with a system that will "scale up" to future needs, she said. "We looked at the private market and weighed the options of doing for ourselves something we need long term. It's like buying a house. At what point do you stop renting and start owning?"

But is owning-your-own really better? "There's an unbelievable difference between building a road or investing in a parking ramp and owning a telecommunications system. And the chasm will only get wider," Emmett Coleman, Comcast's vice president of government affairs, told us. "The county is not taking that into consideration."

In a letter to the county board, Matt Kramer, president of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, said the project "seems to be moving forward without a thorough cost-benefit analysis to determine if it is a wise investment of limited taxpayer resources."

"We have also read a number of stories concerning municipally managed telecommunications projects going wrong and leaving local governments -- and ultimately taxpayers -- with millions of dollars in unanticipated expenses," the letter says.

Let's not let that happen to St. Paul and Ramsey County. A key, as Kramer points out, will be the forthcoming cost-of-ownership analysis.

While waiting for the numbers, we hope this discussion gets the high profile it deserves.